The Justice MB Shah Commission of enquiry probing into large scale illegal mining activities has urged collectors of Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar- the three mineral rich districts in Odisha, to furnish details of all iron ore and manganese leases on or before November 1.
“ During the examination of records from October 4-11 in Bhubaneswar, it is observed that the district collector is supposed to grant surface rights for working to extract minerals from the granted mining leases. You are requested to furnish the detailed list of all iron ore and manganese ore leases in your district”, Sudhir S Shah, registrar, M B Shah Commission of enquiry wrote to the collectors of Kenjhar, Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj.
The commission has sought information on last lease deed executed, date and extent of surface right granted and amount (if any) charged for grant of surface right.
The panel will visit Odisha yet again from October 31-November 11 to continue its investigation into cases of large scale mining of iron ore and manganese without lawful authority.
The team to be led by U V Singh, additional principal conservator of forests, Karnataka government, will consist of other members like Bishwajeet Mishra, conservator of forests (Karanataka), Saroj Sadangi, deputy chief vigilance officer- South Eastern Railway (Kolkata), G T Pandya, deputy commissioner (industries & mines), Gujarat government, Janardan Prasad, senior geologist, Gujarat unit of Geological Survey of India and A V S Prasad, stenographer of the commission.
The commission, during its recent visit to the state from October 3-11, scrutinised records of 81 mining leases out of a total of 186 mining leases.
The panel skipped field verification of mine leases during its last visit though there was speculation that it would visit select mines in the Koira mining sector in Sundergarh district.
The panel among other cases, is specifically keen on checking records of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), Odisha Minerals Development Corporation (OMDC) and Tata Steel.
In case of OMC and OMDC, the panel will verify records of all mines, contract agreements, procedure followed for contracts of sale, execution of work purchases and others.
In case of Tata Steel, the panel will verify total production in all its mines, taxes paid, balance sheet, records of mining leases in Odisha and Jharkhand and details of steel plants, storage plants and others.
The mines department has been asked to make available all the files of the leases, first lease grant, notifications of subsequent renewals, transfer of lease (if any), copy of all registered lease deeds, details of company's directors, details of status of lease land and audit reports of the Accountant General.
The forest department has been asked to make available first notification of diversion of forest land by Government of India, details of compensatory afforestation, details of payment of net present value (NPV), copies of proposals submitted to Government of India for diversion of forest land and lease wise details of compensatory afforestation completed.
Similarly, Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) has been asked to keep available details of all returns filed from 2000, mining plan approvals of all leases, modifications issued for increased production of all leases and production details of mines since 1995.
